My Home Buying Experience

Buying a house right now totally sucks, is disheartening and I never want to move again.

That’s it in a nutshell.

But, I’m actually not bitter. A year later.

We bought a house in the first place because we needed three bedrooms and I felt the rent was comparable to a mortgage even with the HOA fee.

In hindsight the pre-approval was the most exciting part. I was stoked! Oh, so many possibilities. Not. Low inventory. This is the kiss of death when you’re not totally loaded and maybe even when you are. Like I would know, ha.

In my original dream we would be in a modest single family home. A fixer upper. Again, the possibilities!

But, I actually don’t like that. Any of it. Painting. Decorating. Planning. Planting things. Buying curtains. Anything the previous owners left is still here. I did throw out the coconut oil tub that was in the shower. I have no inclination towards this stuff. As Socrates said, “Know Thyself.”

Don’t buy a house you don’t love. I don’t know if this is actual advice, but in my case this was a foolish idea. The house I LOVED and still do, was a money pit and a death trap, with a 90 degree angle staircase going into what was probably a haunted basement with killer clowns, a random toilet, Saw style, a mysterious pool of standing water, a cracked support beam and cloth wiring. I still want that house. Doesn’t make it a good decision.

I believe some people also say not to get emotional, which is much more sound but impossible, for me at least.

So, did I love this house? No. I loved that we could get it and that it meant all three of our must have requirements. 1.) Separate dining area. 2.) All bedrooms on the same floor. 3.) Good schools. In that order. It was very much a transaction.

I also had to settle. It wasn’t my dream to be in a condo. I wanted a “house house”. A “real” house. Well, this house is pretty real. Comes with a real mortgage and keeps the water off our heads when it rains. Not taking the care of the lawn is totally awesome and we recently had to have the sewer line rodded and our carpet cleaned and didn’t have to pay for it or do the work. Our neighbors are great! Caleb has a best friend across the lawn, we see people we know when we’re out, which I love, we’re walking distance to the library and preschool.

Now when I think about it I absolutely love this house in a way that I couldn’t have a year ago. It was move in ready, a perfect amount of space and no creepy parts! Originally, it wasn’t my “dream” but the reality turned out to be so much better. Not only do we have a nice house but we got a great community that I’m so thankful to call Home.